AKDN's Post-Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Efforts in Kashmir

Posted on 06/10/2009

The South Asian earthquake of October 2005 devastated large parts of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control (LOC) as well as significant parts of the North West Frontier province in Pakistan. The death toll in Pakistan was around 73,000 (almost 30,000 children) with another 70,000 severely injured or disabled and 4 million made homeless. On the Indian side, damage was confined to two districts with 1,300 deaths, 7,500 injured and over 37,000 buildings damaged. Within days of this catastrophe, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) responded through its affiliate FOCUS, to provide relief assistance to the affected communities. On the Pakistan side, AKDN’s fleet of helicopters flew over 1,500 sorties, providing food, blankets, tents and tarpaulin, and evacuated nearly 2,000 injured from the affected areas. On the Indian side FOCUS provided winterized tents and warm clothing to nearly 400 families in 14 villages. On both sides of the LOC, nearly 200,000 people were assisted.

Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance

Microfinance for Women in Northern Pakistan

Since its establishment in 2005, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) has taken over 25 years of microfinance activities, programmes and banks that were administered by sister agencies within the AKDN. The underlying objectives of the Agency are to reduce poverty, diminish the vulnerability of poor populations and alleviate economic and social exclusion. more